Shenandoah National Park

We’ve explored Shenandoah quite a bit, but there are many hikes we haven’t made it to. The southern district springs to mind, as we usually frequent the closer north and central districts. There are hikes that we haven’t done that are (according to popular opinion) some of the best the park has to offer. If you search for best hikes in Shenandoah, Hawksbill is usually on the list. So, we traded in a humid summer day in DC for cooler…

Acadia National Park

Our trip to Acadia was wonderful, and we wished we had more time there. This post serves as our reflections looking back on Acadia – our favorite spots, things that we wished we did, tips for traveling to the park, or things we didn’t like. It can also be used as a guide to the park, with links to more detailed posts if you want to dive in. We’ll definitely revisit Acadia someday. But there are a lot of other…

Acadia National Park

It was our last day in Maine, and we had gone to Schoodic Peninsula to check out the newest addition to Acadia NP. We had already explored the Schoodic Institute and Sundew Trail. Before our trip, we had seen photos of waves crashing onto rocks at Schoodic Point. And a ranger at Schoodic Information Center had recommended hiking up to Schoodic Head, which would be the last hike of our trip. Schoodic Point The drive to Schoodic Point from the…

Acadia National Park

Sadly, our time on Mt. Desert Island had come to an end. We’d explored, hiked, eaten, and enjoyed ourselves immensely on the island. But we weren’t finished with Acadia yet. There are three districts in the park, and we had visited two of them. The last one, Schoodic Peninsula, awaited us. Schoodic is the only part of Acadia located on the US mainland. From the eastern coast of Mt. Desert Island, you can actually see Schoodic. One way to get…

Acadia National Park

Southwest Harbor is small town on the southern end of MDI’s west side. Our first taste of it was seeing the harbor itself on the drive in. There are several piers, and one had a small pulloff. It looked so picturesque with boats scattered around, and we just had to stop and take some photos. The harbor is small, so we definitely recommend stopping to take in the views. To us, this was quintessential Maine. Southwest Harbor is also the…

Acadia National Park

The west side of Mt. Desert Island doesn’t have as many hikes as the east side, and overall the hikes didn’t interest us as much. The one trail that we decided to do on the west side was Beech Cliff Trail. It interested us because, like the Beehive on the east side, this trail features some unique obstacles. In this case, multiple iron ladders. So we woke up in Seawall Campground on our second to last day in Maine, and headed…

Acadia National Park

Our journey to Isle au Haut and Duck Harbor Campground finally came to a close. We had used up our maximum 3 nights to stay in the campground. So it was time to venture back to Mount Desert Island where we hadn’t yet visited the western half of the island and our next home, Seawall Campground. The weather had been great each day on Isle au Haut, but on the day we left the skies were grey and foggy. As we…

Acadia National Park

This trail wasn’t even on our radar when we arrived on Isle au Haut. Why not? Simply because it’s not on any maps, so we didn’t know about it. I did find it on a USGS topo map, but it’s not on any published park maps. The trail is maintained occasionally, but it’s off the beaten path and takes time to get to. The trail is 1.8 miles out-and-back from the trailhead, but it takes 2.4 miles along an unpaved…

Acadia National Park

On our second day at Duck Harbor in Acadia National Park, we decided to get a taste of what it’s like to live locally on Isle au Haut. So we made the decision to hike into town, which is the aptly named Isle au Haut Town. It’s the only town on the island, and would be a solid day hike to get there and back. We knew there was a general store and ranger station near the town. We didn’t…

Acadia National Park

Duck Harbor Mountain is the most prominent feature near Duck Harbor Campground. Rising to an elevation of around 300 feet, the mountain forms the best hike near the campground too. There are a few loops that can be created via the Duck Harbor Mountain Trail, and we chose a 4.2 mile loop. The loop starts near Duck Harbor Campground and ascends to the summit of Duck Harbor Mountain, then heads west along the coast, and finally returns north to complete the…